Filibuster Showdown Tomorrow?

While I’m on a plane to the AALS meeting tomorrow (speaking Friday on election reform/Voting wars), the 113th Congress will begin, and with it comes a single biennial opportunity for filibuster reform. It is not clear what, if anything, will happen tomorrow. I hope to write more on this soon, but in the meantime, see

WASHINGTON — A filibuster reform counterproposal put forward by Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), John McCain (R-Ariz.) and six other senators includes a provision that would be a boon to Republicans hoping to tack …Huffington Post · ByRyan Grim · 15 minutes ago

It passed with little attention amid the fiscal cliff fighting, but on the Friday before New Year’s Day, Dem and GOP Senators released a package of reforms to the filibuster that has been watered down in order to gain bipartisan support. But the proposal …Washington Post · ByGreg Sargent · 1 hour ago

Tomorrow, on the first day of the 113 th Congress, the Senate has an opportunity to end the era of time-wasting obstruction by changing the rules that permit filibuster abuse. But it looks as though Senate leaders …takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com · ByDavid Firestone · 18 minutes ago

On Jan. 3, there’s a chance that the U.S. Senate will return to some semblance of a functioning legislative body. That day a majority of senators could vote to eliminate Rule XXII, which authorizes the notorious filibuster.Los Angeles Times · 6 hours ago

Thursday, the first day of the new Congress, is the only day Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid can pass real filibuster reform with a simple majority vote, the so-called “nuclear” option, called so because the idea of …DAILY KOS · ByJoan Mccarter · 3 minutes ago

WASHINGTON — In order to block a Senate rule change in January making the filibuster a more public act, Republicans have been hoping to peel off at least six Democrats, depriving the majority of the 51 votes needed. One of their most promising …Huffington Post · ByRyan Grim · 12/31/2012

As the Huffington Post reported earlier today, Sens. John McCain and Carl Levin — backed up by a handful of senior senators from both parties — have been prepping a filibuster proposal meant to undercut more …Washington Post · ByEzra Klein · 12/28/2012

The Senate filibuster has come under attack – again. The names of its critics might be different, but one thing’s the same: the party in charge is the one threatening to change the rules. They want to limit the highly-effective …CBS News · ByLeigh Ann Caldwell · 12/27/2012

With the “fiscal cliff” averted, the Democratic Senate will turn its attention to attacking the filibuster. I wrote about this issue here. As I explained: Republicans alone cannot prevent the Democrats from changing the Senate rules pertaining to the …powerlineblog.com · 2 hours ago

Essay: Race or Party, Race as Party, or Party All the Time: Three Uneasy Approaches to Conjoined Polarization in Redistricting and Voting Cases, William and Mary Law Review (forthcoming 2018) (draft available)

After Scalia: The Future of United States Election Law, America-Ho (in Japanese, forthcoming 2016)